


Miracles In December

by tariana



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-19 17:44:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17006235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tariana/pseuds/tariana
Summary: Unbeknownst to each other, graduate teaching assistant and student/barista Jongin have crushes on each other. They're both too shy to say more than a few words to each other, but thankfully they have lots of meddling friends who are determined to get them together.Look, I know university au's and coffee shop au's have both been done a million times, but still, maybe you'll want to read this one.I found this list of December prompts on tumblr and I'm pretty late getting started so I imagine it'll be well into January before this is completed, if not after that, but I'll try to update as often as I can. Chapters will alternate between Kyungsoo and Jongin's POV's.I'll probably update the tags and characters as I go along and more people get introduced.Please let me know what you think.





	1. Bundled Up

As he stepped out of the building where the Literature department was housed, Kyungsoo breathed out a gusty sigh, which turned to a white cloud in the freezing air. He flipped up the hood on his coat, tucked his scarf a little tighter around his neck and headed for the little coffee shop a few blocks away. He was done with his classes for the day, but he still had a bunch of tests to grade for Professor Kim. He knew he needed the money and the scholarship this teaching assistant position provided, and he liked Professor Kim a lot, but honestly the last thing he wanted to do this evening was grade a hundred or so tests. What he wanted to do was go home to the little, ratty apartment he shared with Junmyeon and climb in bed with the book he’d been reading, or maybe with his laptop to watch a movie. But those tests really weren’t going to grade themselves no matter how hard he wished they might, so…

He pushed his earbuds in and prepared for the brisk walk across campus. His rather short legs didn’t move as fast as he would have liked, but in reality it wasn’t long before he was pushing open the door of the coffee shop and sighing in relief as the heat hit him. His glasses immediately fogged up and he pulled them off, squinting a little in the bright, warm space. He spotted an empty table near the corner and headed that way, setting his heavy bag down with a relieved sigh and shrugging out of his coat, hanging it over the back of the chair. Once his glasses were clear again, he walked over to the counter, studying the menu even though he’d been here probably a hundred times before and was 100% going to order the same thing as he always did. He was nothing if not a creature of habit. He tugged at his sweater as he waited for the cashier to be free, giving her a small smile and placing his order (a large latte and a chocolate chip muffin). Once he’d claimed his order, he sat back down and pulled out the stack of tests. It hadn’t magically gotten any smaller, and he dug in his bag for a red pen to mark the incorrect answers with. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed when he didn’t see the tall, brown-haired barista he’d developed a rather pointless crush on. The guy hadn’t worked here as long as Kyungsoo had been coming here, only appearing one day several months ago. Kyungsoo, contrary to his rather practical nature, had been immediately smitten. The guy was gorgeous, long legs and broad shoulders and upturned almond shaped eyes and full lips and a seemingly endless supply of fuzzy sweaters and skinny jeans that looked like they were painted on. Not only that, the couple of times that they’d actually talked beyond the details of Kyungsoo’s order, the guy was soft-spoken and seemed almost shy. Ugh, could he be more perfect?

Well, not perfect, because Kyungsoo was pretty sure, judging by how they acted around each other, that he was dating the tall, blond (and was absolutely everyone who worked at this shop a freaking giant?) guy named Sehun that also worked there as a baker. They appeared very close, always touching and hugging when they passed each other behind the counter, laughing and joking and altogether looking very intimate in a way Kyungsoo rarely was with anyone. It wasn’t that Kyungsoo was shy, exactly. Well, it kind of was. And it wasn’t that he didn’t like being touched, either. He did, when it was someone he was comfortable with. It was just that… well, he wasn’t sure what it was, but he envied a lot of people their easy companionship and lack of awkwardness.

He was about halfway through the stack of tests and was progressing faster than he’d thought when he ran out of coffee. He picked up his cup and headed for the counter, occupied with replying to a message on his phone and not paying attention to who was at the counter until a soft voice asked, “What can I get you?” Kyungsoo looked up and into those beautiful eyes. The guy (Jongin, his name tag said, although Kyungsoo knew that, had known it since the first day he’d seen the guy) smiled a little, and Kyungsoo was momentarily struck dumb. He finally managed to place his order, handing over the money to pay and placing his change in the tip jar, to which he got a murmured ‘thank you’ from Jongin. 

It took a couple of hours and another refill on his coffee, but finally he placed the last of the tests on the stack of completed ones with a deep sigh. He picked up his phone, which he’d been ignoring for a while even though it had beeped several times with messages. One from his mom, wanting to know if he was coming home this weekend (possibly, he replied, depending on what work he had for school). One from Junmyeon, wanting to know when he’d be home this evening and if he wanted Junmyeon to order him something to eat when Junmyeon did (yes, he definitely did want, preferably something from the Chinese place if possible) and one from Professor Kim, making sure the tests would be ready to hand back in the morning (they would be).

It wasn’t too much longer before he started on his way home, getting off the bus a few blocks from his apartment and thoroughly freezing by the time he got back there. He greeted Junmyeon, who was lying on the sofa watching one of those cooking competition shows. “Hi, hyung, thanks for this,” he said, picking up the bag containing his food and flopping down on the sofa, moving Junmyeon’s feet out of the way and wincing when the sofa creaked alarmingly even with the small addition of Kyungsoo’s weight. He sighed again and settled in to eat, Junmyeon pushing his feet in under Kyungsoo’s thighs. They watched the show as Kyungsoo ate, Junmyeon occasionally grumbling about something dumb one of the contestants was doing, but quiet other than that. Eventually, Kyungsoo did wind up in his bed with the book he’d been thinking of earlier, reading until he fell asleep.


	2. Peppermint

“Your cute professor type is here, Jongin-ah,” was the first thing Chanyeol hyung said when Jongin walked into the tiny, cramped and glorified closet that served the coffee shop as combination break room and office. He stuffed his backpack and coat into one of the little lockers on the wall, self-consciously checking his hair in the mirror that was hanging precariously from a nail on the wall, surrounded by photos of the coffee shop staff in various configurations, then perched on the edge of the desk, carefully shoving a stack of invoices and other crap out of the way to make room for his butt. He grabbed his apron, wrapping the strings around his waist and tying them neatly, making sure his nametag was affixed.

“Thanks for the warning, hyung,” Jongin said gratefully. He hadn’t had an especially good day, both a too-long dance practice and the calculus class he hated, plus a shift at work, combining to make for a very long day, and it wasn’t over yet. Even after work, he had a paper for history class he needed to at least make a start on, or he’d never get it done on time. The last thing he needed was to make a fool of himself in front of the guy he’d been crushing on since he’d started working here. He’d managed to figure out that the guy’s name was Kyungsoo (Jongdae knew someone who was friends with his roommate or something, Jongin forgot exactly what the connection was) and that he was a teaching assistant for Mr. Kim in the history department, although thankfully not the class that Jongin had. Or maybe it was a bad thing. Jongin could certainly have done with a little more time with the (so fucking cute) little guy, but it would have been more time for Jongin to potentially embarrass himself by being awkward, so maybe it was best that he only seemed to see Kyungsoo at the coffee shop. The short guy with the dark hair, glasses, and neat, academic appearance had caught Jongin’s attention immediately and had stayed there, lodged firmly in Jongin’s thoughts even though Jongin had barely gotten up the courage to say more than hi a few times when he’d happened to be working at the counter when Kyungsoo had come in. It had been a couple of weeks since he'd seen the other guy, but they were all busy as the semester approached its end, and Jongin supposed Kyungsoo was no exception. 

Jongin went through the kitchen, getting an obnoxious pinch on the butt and an equally obnoxious kiss on the cheek from Sehun, snagging a cookie in retaliation and laughing at Sehun’s indignant howl of protest, before stepping out into the area behind the counter and taking a chance to look around. His eyes immediately found Kyungsoo, dark head bent over a huge book, glasses slipping down his nose, and wearing another one of the plaid-shirt-and-sweater-with-slacks combos that were going to be the death of Jongin one of these days. Such a middle-aged dad look had no right to be so sexy. Jongin had never seen Kyungsoo in anything but that, but he couldn't help but wonder what that ass would look like in a pair of well fitted jeans. He deeply hoped that maybe someday he’d get the chance to find out.

The next couple of hours found Jongin busy, the evening always a little crazy at the shop as people got off work or done with school and came in to recharge after their long days with a cup of something caffeinated and one of Sehun’s sweets.

“I caught professor guy staring at you,” Jongdae, that absolute bastard, snuck up behind Jongin, making him jump and then spin around, eyes wide, as Jongdae’s words registered. “Staring… at me? No way.”

“Swear to God,” Jongdae grinned, corners of his mouth turning up in an expression that looked entirely too much like the Cheshire cat for Jongin’s comfort level. “You should go talk to him. Take him a cup of coffee on the house, or a cookie or something. Write your number on the cup or the napkin.”

“Oh, definitely not,” Jongin demurred, shaking his head. “No way am I talking to him after the day I had. I’d rather gouge out my own eyes than embarrass myself in front of him.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but here comes loverboy for a refill, and it’s my break. You’re on your own, babe.” Jongin looked at him in horror and attempted to grab Jongdae’s arm to keep him there, giving him his best pleading eyes, but the smaller man danced out of the way and headed quickly to the kitchen, leaving Jongin no choice but to turn around and face Kyungsoo.

“What can I get you?” he asked softly, the small smile he gave Kyungsoo all he could force past his shyness at that moment. Thankfully, it was enough, and Kyungsoo asked for a simple enough refill of the latte he’d had. From the back, Jongdae miraculously appeared and took the cup from Jongin, starting to make the drink. Jongin dealt with Kyungsoo’s change, which as usual went into the tip jar instead of back into his pocket the way it did with a lot of people. Jongdae returned the cup to Kyungsoo, now full and with a cute little heart drawn on the foam. The short guy returned to his table and his book, and Jondae slapped Jongin’s arm hard.

“You dumbass, he was right there. Why the hell didn’t you ask for his number or give him yours or anything instead of just silently wallowing in your big gay crush?” Jongdae was a bit loud, and Jongin quickly tried to shush him, a hand over his mouth. “I swear to God,” Jongdae’s catch phrase came out again in his irritation. “If you don’t talk to him by the time he leaves tonight, I’m going to ask him out myself just to spite you.”

Jongin pondered this. How serious was Jongdae about it? He had to be kidding, right? Still, what if he wasn’t, and he actually asked Kyungsoo out, and what if Kyungsoo actually accepted, and what if they fell madly in love and Jongin missed his chance with Kyungsoo entirely? He couldn’t let that happen.

Before he could think too much about it, he looked up and noticed that Kyungsoo looked like he was getting ready to leave. He was definitely packing up his things into his bag, book stowed and notebook closed. He was nearly at the bottom of his coffee, Jongin could see. As Jongin silently panicked about what to do, he noticed Jongdae heading out into the main area of the restaurant and in Kyungsoo’s direction. Oh my God, he was serious about asking Kyungsoo out.

Jongin panicked a little more just for good measure, then abruptly made a decision. He grabbed one of the little paper sacks they packed the baked goods in and a couple of the peppermint cookies that Sehun had made only an hour or so ago. He carefully packed them into the sack, then grabbed a marker off the counter and before he could question anything, wrote his phone number and his name on the flap of the sack.

He strode up to Kyungsoo’s table, intercepting Jongdae on the way, who gave him a huge, shit-eating grin and a thumbs-up. When Kyungsoo looked up, Jongin placed the sack on the table, murmurmed, “On the house,” and beat a hasty retreat back behind the counter and then into the kitchen, mumbling to himself, “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” and practically jumping up and down in mingled fear and elation.

“What the fuck?” Sehun asked, looking up from where he was mixing another huge batch of cookie dough. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I gave him my number, Sehunnie… I gave Kyungsoo my number.”


	3. Wish List

What the actual hell had just happened? One minute, Kyungsoo was packing his bag, almost ready to go home, and the next he was having a little paper bag practically flung at him by Jongin, who’d then vanished into the back of the coffee shop as quickly as if he’d never even been there in the first place. Jongdae, the other barista on duty, had burst out laughing, and Kyungsoo had eyed him warily, unsure what was going on. “Oh, man,” Jongdae was saying rather loudly, loudly enough that the tall guy who was the manager of the coffee shop stuck his head out of what must have been the office, eyes wide as he took in the scene. Jongdae was actually bent over, slapping his knees with both hands, eyes watering with mirth. What the hell was so funny anyway?

Kyungsoo reached for the bag and opened it, peeking inside. Two cookies rested in there, emitting a lovely scent of peppermint. He carefully folded the bag closed again, then noticed what was written on the flap. A phone number and Jongin’s name.

Holy shit. Was it really Jongin’s number? There was only one way to find out, but he didn’t think he actually had the guts to text the number. What if it was some sort of joke? No one who looked like that could possibly be interested in him, could they?

Eventually, Jongdae’s laughter trailed off and he returned back behind the counter to deal with the customers that had built up while he was otherwise occupied. Kyungsoo took the chance to finish packing up his bag and slide into his coat, making a hasty retreat out of the coffee shop, the little sack with the cookies held carefully to protect both the cookies and the number written on the bag. He would talk to Junmyeon when he got home and see what his hyung thought he should do.

Of course, what Junmyeon had said had made a lot of sense (that Jongin wouldn’t have given Kyungsoo his number if he didn’t want Kyungsoo to text him) but in any case, Kyungsoo couldn’t bring himself to actually send that first message. What if when Jongin got to know Kyungsoo (and figured out what a dork he actually was) then Jongin wasn’t interested anymore? Kyungsoo had gotten too invested in this, and the chance of rejection loomed, far too frightening. For almost three days, he debated, composing and then erasing each message before hitting send. They were too short, too long, too cheesy, too dorky, and a million other reasons to delay and avoid.

Finally, Junmyeon had had enough. When Kyungsoo looked mournfully at his phone for approximately the millionth time and deleted the message he’d just written, Junmyeon spoke up, closing the lid of his laptop with a little too much force. Kyungsoo knew he was busy making up an Amazon wishlist for the animal shelter he worked at, food and bedding and toys for the rush of animals that would inevitably come in during the next few months, half-grown dogs and cats and bunnies that had been cute balls of fluff under the Christmas tree but were now big enough to not be so cute, which led to annoyance on the part of their owners and then abandonment. They couldn’t save all of the animals that came in, there were just too many for their small facility, but Junmyeon would try, and for that he needed expensive supplies. The veterinary tech already spent too much of his own paycheck on things for the shelter, and Kyungsoo had gotten used to the more than occasional puppy or kitten (or even litter of such) that had made a temporary home in their apartment until the shelter had room for them. 

“Just send ‘hi’. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated, you know. He obviously likes you or he wouldn’t have given you his number to begin with. Besides, if you avoid the coffee shop forever, how am I gonna get any more of those peppermint cookies you brought?” Junmyeon grinned. “Those were amazing. I need to meet the guy who makes them.”

Kyungsoo started to argue, more out of habit than out of any actual belief that Junmyeon was wrong, then paused. There really was no flaw in that logic, after all, and he was caught.

After a few more minutes’ debate, he pulled out his phone again and clicked on the contact he’d saved. ‘Coffee Shop Jongin’. Not that he knew any other Jongins, or had gotten numbers from any other coffee shop guys, for that matter. All right, he really was stalling for time. Why was he so scared of this anyway? Oh, right, the looming specter of rejection.

/Hi, Jongin. It’s Kyungsoo. From the coffee shop? How are you today?/

Was that too little? Too much? Too lame?

In the end, it didn’t matter. Junmyeon took the phone from Kyungsoo, and before Kyungsoo could grab it back, had pressed send.


	4. Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jongin is shopping for Christmas gifts and gets a text.

As he and Sehun pushed open the doors and stepped into the shopping mall, Jongin eyed the obvious crowds warily. If it had been last year, they could have just gone to Toys R Us, but since the giant toy store had shut down, there was no choice but Amazon or one of the big-box stores which were even more crowded than this. So here he was, on one of the busiest shopping days of the year (and a day he really should have been at the dance studio with Sehun, practicing for their holiday show) looking for a gift for his nephew. Luckily, this mall had a couple of small specialty toy shops still operating, and he and Sehun made a beeline for the closest one. It was packed, as expected, with harried-looking shoppers, but he and Sehun squeezed through the aisles. His niece’s gift (a Lego set of a bank robbery, complete with masked bandits and police) was already safely wrapped at home, but Taeho wanted a specific set of Pokemon cards and Jongin was determined to find it.

As they worked their way down the aisle where he knew from previous visits here with Taeho (and he might be a bit of an overindulgent uncle, sue him) contained the Pokemon cards, Jongin suddenly saw the set he was looking for. Unfortunately, a bunch of people were in the way, and there appeared to be a woman heading for that exact set. Sehun happened to be ahead of Jongin in the aisle, further complicating things.

“Sehunnie, can you get it?” Jongin asked, gesturing to the one he wanted. “That one that says White Kyurem GX!” Sehun leaned over a couple people, apologizing and flashing them the smile he’d learned so well got him things he wanted. A few minutes later, more money than he could really afford (but Taeho’s face Christmas morning would be worth it!) exchanged for the cards, he and Sehun spilled back out of the store and into the main concourse of the mall.

In typical fashion, Sehun said that he wanted bubble tea, so they wandered in the direction of that shop. Just as they got to the counter to place their orders, Jongin’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out, glancing at the screen. Unknown number, and he almost just deleted the text unread, figuring it was probably spam. Something stopped him, though, and a moment later he was very glad as he read the message, eyes widening and a small sound of shock escaping, making Sehun turn around and regard him with concern.

“Everything all right, hyung?” Sehun asked, and Jongin couldn’t even speak, only hold the phone out wordlessly to Sehun, who took it and read the message, bright grin spreading on his face. “Is this coffee shop loverboy? It is, isn’t it?”

“Mmm,” Jongin confirmed, taking the phone back and reading the message again. Kyungsoo had texted him! Kyungsoo had said hi. Kyungsoo had asked him how he was!

“Oh my God…” Jongin mumbled. “What do I tell him?”

“Start with hi,” Sehun advised with a laugh. “Then tell him you’re madly in love with him and that he’s gorgeous and that you want to suck his brain out through his dick.”

Jongin listened attentively to the first part, then burst out laughing, shaking his head and waving his hands and generally being one hundred percent flustered.

“I can’t tell him that!” 

“Seriously, hyung. Hi is a good start, tell him how you are since he asked, and ask him that too.”

They sat down at a little table and Jongin studied his phone some more. Seriously, sending a simple message should not be so difficult. He had to admit he’d almost given up on hearing from Kyungsoo since it had been several days since he’d given the other guy his number.

Finally, he typed a message and before he could think too much about it, sent it back.

/Hi Kyungsoo! Today I’m shopping for my nephew and I found the thing he wanted so he’ll be happy. How are you?/


End file.
